MinistrEmail June 2015 – Trust In The Lord

Trust In The Lord

Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

We are living in a time where many factors pull and push at truth. Truth however is not changeable! It doesn’t yield to circumstances. It is not fashionable, neither is it old fashioned, it is eternal. To truly trust something, you must know it to be true!

In a world where people crave a slippery slope to the next degenerate level, truth is what sustains the man and woman of God. No matter the circumstances, no matter the due date, no matter the pressure or the weight, the TRUTH of God’s Word, His integrity, His unchangeable Way continues to stand.

Most modern Christians who live in the first world, watch the news and find it hard to distinguish this from the movie they watched yesterday. The realities of life and death decisions, or martyrdom, of an entire life, possessions, family etc. taken away, are literally a world away, not only geographically but also conceptually! In those places and in those moments there is a Grace from God for the believer and there is a development of trust, of faith that every believer, wherever they live, must develop in God.

I imagine that everyone reading this ‘MinistrEmail’ wants to know that the steps they take today, tomorrow, next week etc. are in God’s Will? Let’s look again at our foundational scripture;

Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJVTrust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Firstly we are instructed to “Trust in the LORD”. Strong’s describes the Hebrew word for trust as: ‘batach’ meaning to trust, be confident or sure: – be bold (confident, secure, sure), careless.There is a boldness that we have when we trust in the Lord. Some are simply bold in themselves but this boldness comes not from a dogged belief that you are right about a decision, but from a place of knowing you are right with God! Sin consciousness robs you of confidence, righteousness consciousness emboldens you. This is why we confess sin;

1 John 1:9 NKJV If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive usour sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is so powerful! Not just forgiven from sin, as important as that is, but also cleansed from all unrighteousness!

“unrighteousness” means, not being right with God. Effectively this means that not only is the forgiveness of sin that was extended 2000 years ago through the cross of Jesus appropriated in your life through faith by confession of the sin, but you also appropriate that you are cleansed from all unrighteousness into a place of righteousness, or right standing with God.

Right standing with God is where? In His presence!

There has been, of late, some discussion of 1 John 1:9. Some have said that this scripture was not directed to Christians. This is absolute rubbish both contextually and historically. For the best teaching I have heard on this go to YouTube and search ‘Rick Renner Home Group Q&A – Confessing Your Sins 11_11_2013’

Yes you are already forgiven of all sin, but you receive your forgiveness by and through faith, in the same way you are already healed, you must receive your healing by and through faith. So, if there is stuff in your life that you know is sin, repent, confess it as wrong before the Lord and receive your full forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness. NOW! Walk in boldness and confidence in God’s presence.

Hebrews 4:16 AMP Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

You run to Him knowing that Jesus has already made the way for you. Then, you must ‘receive’ the mercy and ‘find’ the grace. This brings us back to our Strong’s definition of trust; to trust, be confident or sure: – be bold (confident, secure, sure), careless.

So we can be confident, sure, bold, and careless but with what?

Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

With the very centre of all of your emotions, feelings and thoughts etc. This then continues with; “And lean not on your own understanding”, again showing our dependence NOT on our soul but trusting God with all of our soul.Jesus said something very similar quoting ;

Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Mark 12:30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALLYOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ This is the first commandment.

To “Love” the Lord, is what brings a great trust because Love believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things and never fails!

Is it easy to trust something that never fails? YES, if you believe that to be truth! Now, most people find it difficult to “lean not on your own understanding”. That means to disregard what you think you know, the circumstances, your experience, your training etc. and regard only what God says. How? Firstly understand that all of these natural thought patterns can formulate strongholds. Strongholds are ways of thinking that are twisted by a sin stained nature, so these need to be cast down.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NKJV (3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. (4) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, (5) casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Trust in God, means having to reject other thoughts! When Jairus was confronted with the death of his child after coming to Jesus, The Lord had to help him arrest his thoughts;

Mark 5:35-37 NKJV While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” (36) As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” (37) And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.

You have to “fear not”. Fear is the substance of things dreaded, it is the belief in your own understanding of how it has been before, without God. To “fear not”, is the casting down of every argument, knowledge etc. Then you must “only believe”, that means to believe God “only” to the exclusion of every other thought.

Next;

(6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Faith without works is dead, James 2:18 tells us, and so after we trust in God with everything, we act in line with our trust, our ways must now acknowledge Him.

Result? “…….And He shall direct your paths.”

Psalms 37:23 NKJV The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.

You can trust Him, you can trust His Word, You can trust His Way!

2 Samuel 22:29-33 NKJV “For You are my lamp, O LORD; The LORD shall enlighten my darkness. (30) For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. (31) As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. (32) “For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? (33) God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect.

Praise God! Whatever the circumstances, even if someone has told you “it’s too late”, go over these five points so that you are walking in confidence, boldness and faith as the righteousness of God.

1. Check your confidence level to boldly enter God’s presence. Check your right standing consciousness. If there is un-confessed sin, repent, deal with it, bring it before God and receive forgiveness and cleansing.

2. Press into the truth of God’s Word, cast down every other thought, understanding and feeling, and allow the Word of God to be your trust.

3. Meditate on the unfailing perfection of God’s Word, that it is “proven” and has never failed and that “He is a shield to all who trust in Him”

4. As the Word gets so big in your spirit and overwhelms your soul, let it come out of your mouth. Now, faith substance is pouring forth.

5. Now act on His Word, it is truer than any circumstance.

Don’t try to just jump straight to point 5! Understand that confessing the Word of God at first is point 2 and 3 not point 4! It’s not point 4, until it overflows out of the abundance of your heart, until it’s a ‘rhema’ eruption!

Hallelujah! Faith is now your confident confession, as you trust in the Lord with all your heart. His Word is what you lean on and not your own understanding. All your ways arenow in line with His Ways, and He is directing your paths.

Now Say This!

“Because of the Blood of Jesus I can come before the throne of Grace, and I repent of all wrong doing and confess all sin and I am cleansed of all unrighteousness. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”!

“I trust in the Lord with all my heart, I lean not on my own understanding, in all my ways I acknowledge Him and He directs my paths. I cast down every stronghold and only believe every Word of God.”

“The LORD is my shield because I trust in Him”

Love and blessings,

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